Sunday, December 11, 2011

30 Rock star Alec Baldwin has scooped up a 4,137-square-foot, four-bedroom, and four-and-one-half bath classic pre-war condo in the heart of Greenwich Village for a cool $12.5 million. Baldwin's new digs are in Devonshire House, a historic building designed by architect Emery Roth, which features a blend of Moorish masonry and British detailing as well as casually elegant modern interiors designed by acclaimed designer Victoria Hagan. The building's design is inspired by the Piccadilly, London, estate of the Duke of Devonshire, named Devonshire House. While the Devonshire family crest and other period English details embellish the façade and lobby, Roth also brought the vibrant social and artistic life of Greenwich Village to the design with Italianate motifs.

It was a perfect capper on an absurd week, in which Baldwin inexplicably led off every entertainment news show because he slammed a door shut too loudly on an airplane. Baldwin turned it into the funniest bit of the night on "SNL," calling himself "an American treasure" and lamenting his struggles in the popular "word game for smart people."

Then Stefon, everyone's favorite guide to New York City nightlife, joined "Weekend Update" immediately thereafter. This show got rolling so hard it needed to be retreaded.

But, really, you should just watch the clip. Stefon is going to have one of those big, blown-out "SNL" movies one day.

Oh, and Katy Perry hosted! That happened. She was a little shy and out of place until she dropped all of her Katy Perry-ness to adopt a British accent and become Pippa Middleton.

And the second she did it, she became — pardon the pun — a straight-up firework. Queen Elizabeth (played by Fred Armisen, naturally) gets raunchy in the sketch, so Perry's Pippa is willing to trade every British insult she knows at Her Majesty, whom Perry says "looks like Gandalf in drag."

Perry rocked it, and she never even had to sing. She was a nice addendum — hey, we'll call her a firework again — on the best SNL in about a month.